Bad Reputation
is the twenty-first episode of the fourteenth season and the 314th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy. Short Summary The hospital brings in crisis management to help them sort out allegations against Harper Avery. Meanwhile, Nurse Olivia shows up at Grey Sloan with her son, throwing Alex and Jo for loop, and Arizona decides to spend more time with Sofia who is having a hard time at school. Full Summary Andrew forlornly plays guitar on the couch. Meredith calls for Zola, who asks if it's hard to learn to play guitar. She sees Meredith packing up her Harper Avery Awards and asks if she's taking them for Show and Tell. She says no, that's for when you're proud of something. Meredith stops Andrew from playing and reminds him there's a hospital with a lot of sick people inside it. He tells her he already called in sick to work. She tells him he's not sick, but he says his whole body hurts. Zola asks why he never has to take a bath and they do. Meredith says it's because he's European and tells her to get her brother and sister. Jo and Alex run in the park and then stop to kiss. Meredith arrives at work and is approached by a man. After she confirms that she works there, he starts asking her questions about Harper Avery. He's quickly joined by another reporter asking the same questions. Meredith tells them she's returning her Harper Avery Awards and walks into the hospital. Bailey tells Jackson she's killing the contest and asks what he wants her to do with the money. She doesn't want the word to get out about it. Bailey leaves and pulls the door shut, revealing Maggie hiding behind it. Maggie confronts April, believing she knew about Jackson funding the contest because she was running it. April doesn't know anything about it and is shocked when Maggie tells her. April tells Richard he's slimy. She believes he set her up to look like she was in cahoots with her ex-husband. He's confused, so she explains what happened. Catherine is meeting with Erin Mason, a crisis manager. She likes that Jackson is camera friendly, but Jackson doesn't like that his mother hired outside help. Catherine wants him to hear Erin out. Erin says the situation is getting worse. Richard comes in and tells them all about Jackson funding the contest. Erin wonders if it's a tax evasion scheme. He says he just wanted to do some good, but Erin says it's bad public relations. They need good press, so she hands him a case. She contacted nearby surgical charities and found a kid for him to operate on with Meredith Grey, because she returned her Harper Avery and her mother's. Erin says they need good press. Then they're going after the women. Richard, Catherine, and Jackson all object to that, but Erin says someone is going down for this. Catherine says she built most of her life building up the name and now it's going to take her down. Then she offers herself up as scapegoat. Jackson doesn't want that because it means a strong black woman taking the blame for an old rich white man who couldn't keep his hands to himself. Catherine says it's not up to him. She tells him to go meet his patient. Jackson asks Meredith about returning her award and her mother's. She tells him it was definitely necessary and asks if he really thought he'd get away with rigging the contest. He wonders how the news traveled so fast and says that wasn't ever the plan. She asks him to explain when he asks if she really believes that was the plan. He then asks for her help on the case. She doesn't want to, but then they see Diego Ramirez being wheeled in with a large tumor on his face. He makes a quip about it when he notices them looking at him. Jo and Alex discuss possible wedding locations. April interrupts and tells them a location they're looking at is always booked up way in advance. She also suggests other places. Bailey asks what they're doing and Alex says they're wedding planning because his surgery was cancelled. She says that's good because the place needs morale. April comes over and offers to plan the wedding for them. She just needs a date and a budget. Jo wants her to do it and Alex agrees. Jo tells him the amount she can kick in for the wedding and tells him to check his account. He looks confused and tells her he can't do this right now and leaves. Owen pulls up with Amelia. He's there for Leo's six-month checkup. Alex said he'd do it and the birth mom is coming, which he thinks is weird. Amelia reminds him that he's fostering and might not get to adopt Leo. Owen wraps Leo in a blanket and the run for the door through the mass of reporters. Arizona gets on an elevator with Carina. She just go to work not because she got trapped by reporters but because Sofia was crying, not wanting to go to school, so Arizona pushed her day back to spend time with her. She doesn't know what to do. Carina says it's too bad and and suggests she bribe Carina with snuggle time after her consult. While Diego gets a CT, Bob tells the doctors that Diego's parents are good people. They took him for surgery in Caracas, but couldn't find a doctor willing to operate. Bob excuses himself when his phone rings and Meredith and Jackson discuss his condition. They send Taryn in to readjust his head and he makes another joke about his appearance. Jackson looks at the scan and wants to contour it down to his jawline, believing removing it completely was too risky. Meredith wants to do total resection anyway, because he lives in Venezuela and Jackson's way will require future surgeries. Jackson says they can't afford a bad outcome right now. Bob comes in and says there's a problem. They have to cancel the surgery. Bob and Donna tell the doctors that their donors are concerned about the allegations against Harper Avery. Jackson says Harper Avery is dead now, but the charity still won't pay for the surgery. Meredith suggests them doing it pro bono instead. As they walk out, Jackson quietly thanks Meredith for her offer and she says Harper Avery has caused enough damage for one day. Olivia approaches Levi and asks him to answer her question. He says no comment and repeats it when she asks if he's a doctor. She needs someone to look at her son, Milo. She thinks he swallowed a chew toy and he's now squeaking when he breathes. She asks if they should go to Trauma One. Everything looks different, so she doesn't know where that is anymore. She tells Jo she used to be a nurse there, a lifetime ago. Jo shows her where to go. Owen tells the nurse he's there for a well-baby checkup. The nurse tells him to fill out some paperwork. He tries to get out of it, but she is insistent. He takes the forms and sits down. The girl next to him starts coughing, so he suggests she get a mask or at least cover her mouth. She tells him she's Betty. She's Leo's mom. As Jo examines Milo, Olivia says the squeaker's been down there about an hour. They were at her parents' house for dinner and she jokes that it might have been his way of getting out of her dad talking about politics. Jo says the whistles not compromising his airway, so they'll get an x-ray to pinpoint its location. Olivia asks about the Harper Avery stuff. She's not surprised because of the pig doctors they had to put up with when she worked there. Just then, Alex walks in and they're surprised to see each other. Olivia covers Milo's ears and asks if he's still giving nurses syphilis or has he moved on to gonorrhea? Owen and Betty make awkward small talk. She declines the offer to hold him and learns Owen's a doctor. Amelia comes in, surprised Owen is still waiting. She thinks the mom flaked until Owen points out Betty. They sit together awkwardly. Olivia asks Alex about the change from plastics as he examines Milo and tells him she moved to Sacramento. Alex believes the toy is lodged in the bronchus and tells them to go ahead with x-rays. Jo follows Alex out of the room and asks him what the conversation with Olivia was about. He wants her to drop it and the wedding talk. Olivia peeks her head out and asks if someone is going to come get them. Jo says they will. Olivia then asks if she and Alex are engaged and wishes her good luck with that when she says they are. Owen thanks Arizona for examining Leo. She loves having the chance to treat a healthy baby, which Leo is. Betty watches from a few feet away. Arizona notices he has strong legs, which Betty says he got from her. As Arizona goes to give him a shot, Betty cringes, so Amelia invites her to stand in the hallway with her. They watch form the hallway and Betty says she got a new dress for this appointment, like he'd know she was wearing a dress. Owen's a doctor, so she wonders what she could do for him. Amelia then offers to buy Betty some food and talk, so they leave. Olivia tells Jo they used to call her syph nurse. Even though Alex gave it to her and no one called him names. She's over it and should shut up about it, but thinks Jo seems great and wonders if she knows he cheated on his first wife. With her. Jo says that was a long time ago and people change. She also suggests she get tested. Alex peeks in and says they found the location of the whistle and he'd like to get it out before it causes a bronchospasm. Jackson makes a surgical plan for Diego. Meredith still wants to remove the whole tumor. Jackson thinks it's too risky, but Meredith wants the guy who did a throat transplant. She thinks he's too worried about getting bad press. He admits that he is and he's worried about the Foundation. Meredith tells him Katie Simmons isn't worried about that. She's one of the women. She was harassed, assaulted, and then paid off. She's a waitress now because she dropped out of the program. He says if the foundation goes down, that's 72 hospitals, just like Grey Sloan, that will go down with it. That's thousands of jobs. He thought Meredith would understand because they were both raised by people who weren't easy. Meredith says he can't compare her mother to his grandfather. Her mother had to fight for everything while Harper had everything except decency. Levi is doing the bronchoscopy on Milo with Alex's guidance. Alex says Olivia has a right to be pissed because he was a jerk back then, but Jo's more worried about having learned that he cheated on his first wife. Alex says she knows him and asks if she really thinks he'd do that to her. She's wondering because he's being weird about the wedding budget. Levi locates the whistle and prepares to pull it up. Owen hands Leo off to the daycare and then thanks Arizona for taking the time to do the exam. She says she had time because she took the morning off to be with Sofia, who's struggling. Owen offers to have her bring Sofia over to play with Leo. Arizona thanks him and says that's a normal human reaction. Amelia and Betty are eating from the food truck out front and Amelia asks Betty how long she's been using. She plays dumb, but Amelia knows the signs and tells Betty she was a drug addict, too. Betty says she was never into drugs. She played soccer. Then she tore her ACL in the playoffs, so she had surgery. She was given ten days of painkillers. Two years ago and now she has a baby whose father is a drug dealer and she's on the streets. Amelia asks where she wants to be two years from now. As they take Milo back to his room, Levi asks Jo if he needs to get tested. Jo tells him he doesn't have syphilis. Amelia tells Richard she thinks she needs a meeting. She met someone and thinks they made a real connection. Then she says she's fifteen, which concerns Richard until she says she wants to help Betty get and stay sober. She wants to take her in. Richard says he wasn't sober when he met Ollie, but she saw something in him and got him sober. He tells her to drag Betty if she sees something in her. It might not work, but if it does, she's saved a life. Arizona asks Carina how her research is going. Then she asks her if she likes kids, because she doesn't seem interested when she talks about Sofia. Carina says she doesn't know Sofia. She only knows what Arizona tells her about how she treats her. She doesn't believe in coddling children so much. Arizona says she doesn't coddle Sofia, but Carina reminds her that Sofia stayed home for part of today, so why would she want to go to school tomorrow. Arizona says it's complicated because Sofia's parents split up. Carina says her parents split up, too. She stayed in Italy with her father and got her first job at nine sweeping up the cafe. Meanwhile Andrew came to the US with their mother and is crying on the couch because his girlfriend left him, because he was coddled. Alex tells Milo he's good to go and doesn't want to see him back there next week with something else down there. Milo knows it was dumb. Alex says they all do dumb things, but then they grow out of them. Olivia thanks him and he says he's happy for her. As he leaves, Olivia tells him Jo's too good for him, which he already knows. Amelia tells Owen about her plans. The social worker called it unconventional, but she thinks she can help Betty. The part she hasn't figured out is telling Meredith about it. She cares about Leo. Owen says Leo would give her something real to fight for. If Leo has a shot to have his mother in his life, Owen wants that for him. They can stay with him. Diego is ready for surgery. Jackson and Meredith scrub in and Jackson says he was talking about their moms. They both went through obstacles to make sure their kids ha better lives than they did. Now his mom is going to take the fall. Meredith says she worked her life for the award and she's upset with her mother for selling out Marie Cerone and then she realized she was blaming the women for something that goes back to the actions of a man. Then she asks him about the contest. He wanted to compete with the best and he can't compete for the Harper Avery. It brought out a lot of excellent projects and he's glad for that. They then enter the OR to operate. Maggie has figured out that April didn't know about the contest. April says Jackson definitely has an explanation for what he did and deserves the benefit of the doubt. Richard, on the other hand, played her like a bassoon. There's a full gallery when Meredith and Jackson start their surgery. Jackson says he wants to reach out to all the women who have come forward. They can apologize and write checks, for a start, but they can do even more than that. She tells him that in order to rebuild the foundation, they have to tear it down first. Jackson then changes his mind and says he wants to remove the whole tumor now. They get the tumor out and prepare a bone graft. They sew his face back in place and the surgery is done. Erin and Catherine have prepared a statement. Richard wants to wait on the press conference for a moment. Jackson and Meredith come in with a solution they can all live with. He fires Erin and tells his mother to read the statement. She talks about dissolving the Harper Avery Foundation and founding the Catherine Fox Foundation in its place. They pledge to re-hire and re-train every woman affected by his actions. The letter is signed Catherine Fox. Erin leaves the room and Meredith asks to have her award re-engraved because she worked really hard for it. Jackson enters the kitchen where Maggie is cooking while Andrew sleeps on the couch. They kiss and she says she understands why he funded the contest. She says he was hot today. He asks if he'll still be hot if he goes broke. She says yes, if he does it for noble reasons. Then she shows him the food she cooked. Amelia, Owen, and Leo are waiting for Betty. She believes Betty's not coming and says it was a stupid idea anyway. Owen then sees Betty nearby and alerts Amelia to her presence. Amelia reminds herself that she's Betty's Ollie. She immediately sets ground rules with Betty. She has to tell her parents she's off the streets and safe. No drugs. And she has to go to meetings. Then they all go home together. Meredith asks Arizona if she's close with Andrew. Arizona says kind of. Meredith's worried about him. She wants Arizona to talk to him. Arizona says she's not the best person for the job, but she knows who Meredith should talk to. Jo comes home to have it out with Alex. She thinks he's having money problems, but he says it's actually the opposite. His mother hasn't been cashing his checks, which means she's either dead or off her meds. He's just been throwing money at the problem without checking in. Maybe he hasn't changed that much. Jo says that's not true. Bailey is leaving the hospital when she's stopped by Sanjay Roy, who says he's representing a client who was wrongfully terminated: Vikram Roy. They wanted him re-hired with additional damages. Vik says he's happy to start back on Monday. Meredith wakes up Andrew. Then Carina comes in and starts yelling at him about his behavior. Meredith leaves them fighting it out. Cast 14x21MeredithGrey.png|Meredith Grey 14x21AlexKarev.png|Alex Karev 14x21MirandaBailey.png|Miranda Bailey 14x21RichardWebber.png|Richard Webber 14x21OwenHunt.png|Owen Hunt 14x21ArizonaRobbins.png|Arizona Robbins 14x21AprilKepner.png|April Kepner 14x21JacksonAvery.png|Jackson Avery 14x21AmeliaShepherd.png|Amelia Shepherd 14x21JoWilson.png|Jo Wilson 14x21MaggiePierce.png|Maggie Pierce 14x21AndrewDeLuca.png|Andrew DeLuca 14x21CatherineAvery.png|Catherine Avery 14x21ErinMason.png|Erin Mason 14x21CarinaDeLuca.png|Carina DeLuca 14x21Bob.png|Bob 14x21OliviaJankovic.png|Olivia Jankovic 14x21BettyNelson.png|Betty Nelson 14x21SanjayRoy.png|Sanjay Roy 14x21LeviSchmitt.png|Levi Schmitt 14x21VikramRoy.png|Vik Roy 14x21TarynHelm.png|Taryn Helm 14x21Donna.png|Donna 14x21ReporterDan.png|Reporter Dan 14x21Reporter2.png|Reporter 2 14x21Nurse.png|Nurse Liv 14x21ZolaGreyShepherd.png|Zola Grey Shepherd 14x21MiloJankovic.png|Milo Jankovic 14x21DiegoRamirez.png|Diego Ramirez Main Cast *Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey *Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev *Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey *James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber *Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt *Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins *Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner *Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery *Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd *Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson *Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce *Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren (credit only) *Giacomo Gianniotti as Dr. Andrew DeLuca Guest Stars *Debbie Allen as Dr. Catherine Avery *Heather Mazur as Erin Mason *Stefania Spampinato as Dr. Carina DeLuca *Rubén Carfias as Bob *Sarah Utterback as Olivia Jankovic *Peyton Kennedy as Betty Nelson *Sunil Malhotra as Sanjay Roy Co-Starring *Jake Borelli as Levi Schmitt *Rushi Kota as Vik Roy *Jaicy Elliot as Taryn Helm *Stacey Moseley as Donna *Spencer Hill as Reporter Dan *Liberte Chan as Reporter 2 *Olivia-Diane Joseph as Nurse *Aniela Gumbs as Zola *Harlo Haas as Milo Jankovic *Luis Fernando Cordova as Diego Medical Notes Diego Ramirez *'Diagnosis:' **Fibrous dysplasia **Craniofacial dysplasia *'Doctors:' **Jackson Avery (plastic surgeon) **Meredith Grey (general surgeon) **Taryn Helm (surgical intern) *'Treatment:' **Surgical resection Diego had a craniofacial tumor covering a portion of his face. Meredith wanted to remove the entire tumor, but Jackson made a plan that created a good cosmetic outcome, but would require follow-up surgeries. They started with Jackson's plan, but after they opened him up, he decided to remove the entire tumor, which required a bone graft. Milo Jankovic *'Diagnosis:' **Lodged object *'Doctors:' **Alex Karev (pediatric surgeon) **Jo Wilson (surgical resident) **Levi Schmitt (surgical intern) *'Treatment:' **Bronchoscopy Milo was brought to the ER after swallowing a chew toy. Jo examined him and determined that it wasn't compromising his breathing and ordered an x-ray to determine its location. Alex examined him and said it seemed to be lodged in his bronchus, which the x-ray confirmed. They did bronchoscopy to remove it. Leo *'Diagnosis:' *'Doctors:' **Arizona Robbins (fetal surgeon) *'Treatment:' **Well-baby checkup Leo had his six-month checkup and was deemed perfectly healthy. Music "I Can't Resist" - The Great Escape "Say Something" - Justin Timberlake "Chateau" - Angus & Julia Stone Notes and Trivia *This episode's title originated from the song , originally sung by various artists. *This episode scored 6.54 million viewers. *The song Andrew sings at the beginning of the episode was written by Giacomo Gianniotti himself. He was asked to write the song to Sam Bello from his character's perspective. *This episode marks the brief return of Olivia Jankovic, who was last seen in the season six episode I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watchin' Me. Gallery Episode Stills 14x21-1.jpg 14x21-2.jpg 14x21-3.jpg 14x21-4.jpg 14x21-5.jpg 14x21-6.jpg 14x21-7.jpg 14x21-8.jpg 14x21-9.jpg 14x21-10.jpg 14x21-11.jpg 14x21-12.jpg 14x21-13.jpg 14x21-14.jpg 14x21-15.jpg 14x21-16.jpg 14x21-17.jpg 14x21-18.jpg 14x21-19.jpg 14x21-20.jpg 14x21-21.jpg 14x21-22.jpg 14x21-23.jpg 14x21-24.jpg Behind the Scenes 14x21BTS1.jpg 14x21BTS2.jpg 14x21BTS3.jpg 14x21BTS4.jpg 14x21BTS5.jpg Quotes :Bailey: Karev, Wilson, what are you doing? :Alex: Well, my surgery got cancelled 'cause of Handsy Avery. :Jo: So, we are trying to plan a wedding, but we suck at it. :Bailey: Yes! That's good. Plan your wedding. Set the date. Put it on the calendar. This place needs morale. This place needs some things to feel good about and look forward to. Yeah, yeah, lock that down. :Alex: Great, now it's a work thing. ---- :Alex: We all do dumb things. Then we outgrow them. :Olivia: Thanks, Dr. Karev. :Alex: You got a good kid. I'm happy for you. :Olivia: She's too good for you. :Alex: You think I don't know that? ---- :Jo: Okay, we're having it out right now. :Alex: Oh, come on. You're seriously gonna listen to some nurse I slept with when I was a stupid intern? :Jo: No! I'm talking about your psycho mood swings and treating me like crap all day. I won't do weirdness and silence and anger, Alex. I can't do that again. :Alex: It's not what you think. :Jo: It started when I asked you to check your bank account. Is it money? Are we really fighting about money? Because that is such a cliché. I grew up in my fricking car, Alex. Do you think I care if you're having money problems? :Alex: It's not. I have money, way too much money. I haven't checked this account in over a year, and all of a sudden, my balance is crazy high. :Jo: Okay. :Alex: It's my mom. I send her money for rent and food, and she hasn't been cashing the checks. Which means she's dead or walking the streets half-naked or throwing garbage at people. I'm out here living my life, and I'm just throwing money at a problem without paying attention. I don't know. Maybe I haven't really changed that much. :Jo: No. That's not true. You know that that's not true. ---- :April: Jackson has an explanation. :Maggie: What? What is it? :April: Oh, I don't know what it is, but he has one. Maggie, I've known him for a long time. He can be complicated but not morally, not like that. He's a good man. He deserves the benefit of your doubt. Webber, on the other hand. That guy played me like a bassoon. ---- :Amelia: I think I need a meeting. I met someone. And I don't know, I think we made a real connection, and I think I'm about to do something completely crazy. :Richard: Well, I'm happy for you, Shepherd. :Amelia: She's 15. :Richard: Okay, you need to talk to a professional now. :Amelia: No. No, listen, this is a kid. This is a young mom. She's Owen's foster kid's mom. And she's a junkie partly because some surgeon prescribed opioids she probably could've done without. I'm thinking about taking her in. Do you think I can do that? :Richard: I wasn't sober when I met Ollie, and I wasn't ready to get sober. But she saw something in me, practically dragged me off a barstool to a meeting. Whatever is was, it stuck. You see something in this girl, you go ahead and drag her. Now, it might now work, but if it does, you've saved a life. ---- :Amelia: If this is gonna work, there need to be ground rules. First off, you text your family tonight. You let them know that you're safe and that you're off the streets. You cannot do drugs at all, okay? That is a non-starter. I can give you a prescription to take the edge off your withdrawal, but that's all. And you have to come with me to meetings. :Betty: She's so bossy. :Owen: Oh, yeah. ---- :Jackson: I'm not trying to diminish the trauma experienced by these victims, all right? If you take the foundation down, that's 72 hospitals that go down with it. Every single person in this hospital multiply that by 72. We're talking about thousands of jobs, thousands of families. You know, of all people, I really thought you would understand. :Meredith: Understand what? :Jackson: We're not exactly raised by people who were easy. :Meredith: No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to compare your grandfather and my mother. My mother had to fight tooth and nail for every inch of ground she gained. Harper Avery had everything. Except decency. ---- :Jackson: You know, I wasn't comparing Ellis Grey to Harper Avery earlier. I was talking about our moms. They've both been through a ton of obstacles, they both made sure we had an amazing future, and now I have to take hers away. :Meredith: Well, how does your mother... :Jackson: Well, she's trying to take the fall for this whole thing. I mean, Harper Avery's name's all over it, but she built it. It's her heart and soul that went into it. I mean, it's not as easy as just giving back an award, you know? :Meredith: You think that was easy? I worked my whole life for that award. I'm pissed! You know, I'm mainly pissed at my mother for selling out Marie Cerone. And then, when I think back on it, it was all due to the behavior of one awful man. And then, I get mad at myself for blaming the women. Why do we do that? Why is it so easy to blame the women? :Jackson: A couple thousand years of patriarchy. :Meredith: Okay, so, now do you care to explain why you threw $100 million at a contest that you could win? :Jackson: Look, I created the contest because I'm not allowed to compete for Harper Avery. I want to compete with the best on an even playing field. So, maybe it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to pay for the playing field, but look what it created. Webber's cancer pen, you got Pierce's rechargeable hearts, your mini livers, Robbins' crash cart, Bailey's butt thing. But I lit that fire. I created something where there was nothing. And even if they try to take that from me if they shut down the contest I'm not gonna be ashamed of that. :Meredith: Yeah, you could've just bought a "World's Best Surgeon" trophy and had your name engraved on it. See Also Category:All Episodes Category:GA Episodes Category:GA S14 Episodes